Rail Ministry: Better Trains A-Comin’

New cars often suffer quality glitches that auto makers try to work out over time. As annoying as those kinks may be to consumers, at least cars don’t travel at the super high speeds bullet trains can reach.

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A high-speed train in Beijing

Malfunctions for high-speed trains, however minor they may be, are indeed an entirely different matter, especially for China’s showcase high-speed trains that could travel at top speeds of 350 kilometers an hour.

On Thursday, Wang Yongping, spokesman for China’s powerful Ministry of Railways, apologized for the recent spate of high-speed train malfunctions during an online chat, which was later posted on the ministry’s website. Mr. Wang expressed regret for problems with power outages and other malfunctions that have plagued the new high-speed line between Beijing and Shanghai since it opened last month.

The online chat was conducted on July 14 on a People’s Daily Online forum with a patriotic overtone. The chat wasn’t exclusively about the malfunctions high-speed trains suffered on the Beijing-Shanghai line but was meant to discuss the overall performance of the line since its debut. Still, Mr. Wang provided some technical details.

“Since July 10th, due to severe lightning and power supply malfunctions, some trains were delayed. But through July 13, 94% of the departures were on time, while 85.6% of the arrivals were reported to be punctual,” Mr. Wang said on the chat, noting that the trophy high-speed rail line was “still in a break-in period.”

“The malfunctions haven’t affected the overall safety” of the rail line, he said, adding, “our technology and equipment are still very advanced and qualified. China’s high-speed rail will show better performance in the future” once the current spate of malfunctions is resolved.

Those malfunctions have proven embarrassing for China, which has been boasting of the superiority of its high-speed rail system, touting that its technology is superior to that of Japan’s vaunted Shinkansen. The flagship 1,318-kilometer Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail line opened late last month.

Mr. Wang’s apology follows an incident on Wednesday when service on the line was temporarily halted after one of the trains broke down, causing hundreds of passengers to have to transfer to another train to complete their journey.

It was the third delay in four days on the line, which officially launched on June 30 with Premier Wen Jiabao among its inaugural riders. Power failures stopped 29 trains on Tuesday (July 12), after a similar mishap halted 11 trains Sunday.

The ministry posted a statement Tuesday apologizing for the accident. “Due to the malfunction of power-supply infrastructure near the Suzhou section of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail line, multiple trains were delayed. The breakdown was resolved after intensive repair. All delayed trains resumed operation,” the ministry said. “The railway authorities apologize to passengers for the inconvenience the delay caused.”

China needs to fix high-speed rail problems quickly. Otherwise, it won’t be able to keep boasting that the country’s trains are superior to those in Europe and Japan.

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